EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Sophie Anderton and husband's fears for refugees

EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Sophie Anderton and her husband Count Balinski-Jundzill’s fears for refugees amid plans for a temporary camp in their village

She was still in her teens when her appearance in a Gossard bras campaign catapulted her to national attention — attention for which, she later reflected, she was unsuited.

But since marrying her ‘soulmate’, Count Kazimierz ‘Kaz’ Balinski-Jundzill, two years ago, Sophie Anderton, 46, has been happier than she ever dared hope she would be — and robust enough, with Kaz’s support, to come through the heartbreak of a miscarriage.

Now, though, the couple’s contentment — and that of 200 inhabitants in their neighbouring village in Ireland — is in doubt, thanks to plans to set up a temporary camp for 950 Ukrainian refugees.

They are concerned that, given the lack of local infrastructure and resources, the plans by the Irish government are misconceived — not least for the refugees themselves.

Concerned: Sophie Anderton and Count Kazimierz ‘Kaz’ Balinski-Jundzill

Now, though, the couple’s contentment — and that of 200 inhabitants in their neighbouring village in Ireland — is in doubt, thanks to plans to set up a temporary camp for 950 Ukrainian refugees

‘We received no formal notice,’ says Kaz, 55, who was married to food writer and television chef Lorraine Pascale, but now lives with Sophie near the Wicklow Mountains, in Glendalough House (pictured), at the heart of a sprawling 1,400-acre estate

‘We received no formal notice,’ says Kaz, 55, who was married to food writer and television chef Lorraine Pascale, but now lives with Sophie near the Wicklow Mountains, in Glendalough House, at the heart of a sprawling 1,400-acre estate.

While the couple and Kaz’s mother are the primary residents of the estate, the land surrounding the main house is owned by a trust and the couple stress that they knew nothing about the plans to house refugees there.

‘It was actually a neighbour who [alerted] us,’ explains Kaz, adding that the local village, Annamoe, is no more than a hamlet with ‘absolutely no infrastructure whatsoever — no post office, no facilities’.

Even worse, he says, is the plan to put the refugees in tents in a field.

‘It’s effectively festival-style tenting, behind steel fencing. It’s exposed to the elements. Within about five minutes of lashing rain, it’s a mud bath. Ireland is not well versed in this sort of thing,’ adds Kaz, whose own family were refugees from World War II Poland.

You’re Kidding! Jodie’s chilly dip 

She is usually seen sporting a bikini in a tropical destination — but Jodie Kidd seems equally at home plunging into the chilly waters of the English Channel.

The model-turned-publican, 45, braved the waves at Whitsand Bay in Cornwall yesterday, where temperatures were 13c, in just a one-piece. In a video Jodie shared online, she can be seen sporting the stars-and-stripes swimsuit for what she says was a ‘lovely Cornish October dip’ in the sea.

However, she did wear a colourful bobble hat.

‘Something had to be kept warm,’ she wails.

I’m sure her bravery will impress her fiance, former Royal Marine Joseph Bates.


She is usually seen sporting a bikini in a tropical destination — but Jodie Kidd seems equally at home plunging into the chilly waters of the English Channel

In a video Jodie shared online, she can be seen sporting the stars-and-stripes swimsuit for what she says was a ‘lovely Cornish October dip’ in the sea

King Charles is known to talk to plants but I now hear he has a penchant for jewellery made from recycled plant pots. The monarch has been gifted designs from Vin + Omi, a sustainable brand which makes clothes out of garden waste from His Majesty’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. ‘He’s got two pieces of jewellery that we’ve made from hard-to-recycle black plant pots,’ Vin tells me at a fashion do in London. ‘He really liked that, and he wrote us a letter afterwards. The King is very funny compared to other sustainable types, who are quite boring.’

King promotes his ‘hunky’ aide

New job: Lt Col Johnny Thompson

Thrust into the spotlight by his duties at the Queen’s funeral and the Proclamation of King Charles, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan ‘Johnny’ Thompson, 40, has now been promoted to His Majesty’s right-hand man.

It is believed the new post will see the married father-of-one become the monarch’s ‘super equerry’ helping run both the King and Queen’s Camilla’s private affairs.

His promotion comes as he is set to step down from duties in the 5th Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland.

His appearances in a kilt won him female fans and earned him the title ‘hunky’ aide. This year, he received the seal of approval from society bible Tatler who placed him third on the annual Social Power Index list.

‘It is from within the palace walls that the King’s equerry wields his unique brand of quiet, charming power,’ it wrote.

There was a poignant moment in the history of the nobility yesterday, with the funeral in Sussex of Charles Kerr, 2nd Lord Teviot, 88, undoubtedly the first, and presumably the last Old Etonian hereditary peer, to have been a bus driver before taking his seat in the House of Lords.

While ‘on the buses’ in Brighton, he married his ‘clippie’ — or conductress — Patricia Harris.

Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia was among those mourning him at the service.

Bros star Matt Goss has called for musicians to protect their work from being exploited by artificial intelligence (AI).

‘I think AI is inevitable, but we must urgently make sure copyrights are in place, for your image, for your likeness, for your voice because right now these are areas that are not being tackled,’ he tells me at a party in Mayfair. ‘We have to make sure our voices and speaking voices are copyrighted in the world of AI or we’ll lose our identity.’

Goss, 55, who was the lead singer of the 1980s boy band, adds: ‘We must put protection in place — I really believe that.’

TV Sarah’s fight for a happy home

TV homes guru Sarah Beeny defeated breast cancer when she was given the all-clear in April — but now she says her marriage has been on shaky ground.

Beeny, 51, who has been married to artist Graham Swift for 21 years, with whom she has four sons, says the pair have struggled. ‘We’re hanging on in there by our fingernails,’ she tells The Mid.Point With Gabby Logan podcast.

‘I have been a bit horrible in the last couple of years, to be honest, at times, and he said, “You know the thing is Sarah, you’re not prepared to leave and have your children half the time, and neither am I, so we’re going to stay together, and we’re going to stay together happily or unhappily, so which would you like it to be?”

‘So I was like, “OK we’ll do happy then shall we?” ‘ admits the Property Ladder star.

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